The miracle of life made an encore for Edgar and Nina Otto. A year after their beloved yellow Labrador retriever, Lancelot, died of cancer, the Florida couple welcomed a cloned copy into their home Tuesday. They’ve dubbed their doggie double “Lancelot Encore.”

Lancelot always occupied a special place in their hearts: Edgar called Lancelot “an unbelievable, humanlike dog, a true companion.” Thus the Ottos had the foresight to have DNA frozen from Lancelot six years ago.

Then, last June — six months after Lance’s death — they learned the Northern California biotech firm BioArts International was holding a dog-cloning auction. They threw their hat in the ring, and won.

The cloning didn’t come cheap — the Ottos shelled out $155,000 for the opportunity. But it worked. BioArts partnered with Dr. Hwang S Woo-Suk, of the South Korea biotech research firm Sooam, to bring a second Lancelot into the Otto household.